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News & ArtsThursday, September 24, 2009
Crime / News Defining Prostitution Down
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 7:09 AM
I've read this Everett Herald story about a prostitution bust at one of Everett's "bikini espresso stand" three times and can't find much evidence in it that the five young women who were arrested for prostitution were actually engaging in acts of prostitution. After a two-month investigation—way to allocate those scarce tax dollars, Everett—the police found that...
...women were charging up to $80 to strip down and flash customers while fixing lattes and mochas.... the women [exposed] their crotches, lick whipped cream off their co-workers' private parts and pose naked for pictures inside the Grab-n-Go Espresso stand on Broadway.... the women also charged customers to play “basketball” — a game in which customers were allowed to throw waded up money at women who caught the money in their underpants.
All of that sounds like plain ol' stripping, which isn't illegal, and not prostitution. But some of the women allowed men to cop a quick feel of their boobs and rear ends—which doesn't sound like prostitution to me, even it "falls under the city's definition of prostitution," according to the police. But prostitution is usually defined as the exchange of money for sex acts—cash for fucking or sucking or handjobs—not the exchange of small sums of money hands for quickly copped feels. That, again, is stripping, not prostitutin.
And... gee... have the police in Everett ever been to a Hooters?
2
I'm going to open a gay male version of Hooters called Otters.
Scruffy or stubbly dudes in bright orange jockstraps, and with a house dressing called "man'naise".
Then I'll open my own titty coffee place, but for the hairier male. I'll call it Bearistas.
Scruffy or stubbly dudes in bright orange jockstraps, and with a house dressing called "man'naise".
Then I'll open my own titty coffee place, but for the hairier male. I'll call it Bearistas.
3
At hooters you don't get flashed when you give a good tip. Either way, the cops are spending way too much time, effort, and money to bust what amounts to nothing more than some young women getting some kicks at work. At worst, they should be fired for conduct unbecoming a scantily clad barrista.
4
This has nothing to do with busting unconscionable acts. This has everything to do with cops getting paid to pay daily visits to the drive through strip club. This is the same deal as the Starbucks Exotic Coffee for Men from Idiocracy, where you can get a full body latte. I wonder what training I need to get paid to go get handjobs in the name of law and order.
5
You've obviously never been in a Hooters. "Copping a feel" will get you tossed out of there so fast it'll make your head spin.
This, however, is bullshit. I agree that it's not prostitution by anybody's definition. I guess they have nothing better to do with their time.
This, however, is bullshit. I agree that it's not prostitution by anybody's definition. I guess they have nothing better to do with their time.
6
If you think this is bad, you should read the indictments that are pending against the Colacurcios. I'm still waiting for an investigative report to reveal that as the bullshit charge it is.
7
"And... gee... have the police in Everett ever been to a Hooters?"
No, And obviously, Dan, neither have you.
Either that, or you found a hell of a Hooters.
No, And obviously, Dan, neither have you.
Either that, or you found a hell of a Hooters.
8
I just heard the owner on the radio basically calling this bs. He says the cops reached through the window getting a bit grabby so the baristas refused to serve them. The charges were made up in retaliation.
9
Agree with 7. What Hooters are you going to, Dan? Every (straight) man who goes to a Hooters wishes he could tip the waitresses enough to flash or allow a copped feel.
10
Presumably strip clubs have multiple rules and regulations they have to follow in order to stay in business. Why should this coffee shop get a free pass? The girls obviously shouldn't have been arrested, but the business should been shut down permanently.
14
While it's not prostitution, I assume things like exposing your crotch while preparing food/drinks probably violates more than a few heath codes
16
keshmeshi - I don't think anybody's arguing that this place/these workers weren't violating any laws. But if a strip club doesn't have the right permits, you don't arrest the women for prostitution.
19
Bah. The vice detectives were just pissed that they didn't get a free "happy ending" and decided to lay down the law, no doubt.
21
Not prostitution, but if it's true the girls were doing half of that, the place needs to be shut for health violations and doing stripperific acts without permits. There's a reason why there's so many rules at strip clubs (places that won't serve alcohol if there's nudity, the 15 foot rule etc.)
24
"There's a reason why there's so many rules at strip clubs (places that won't serve alcohol if there's nudity, the 15 foot rule etc.)"
Is there? We don't have those laws here, and we seem to get along just fine.
Is there? We don't have those laws here, and we seem to get along just fine.
25
We should show some compassion to the victims of this prostitution.
Whoever they are? (coffee shops that don't have strippers and thus can't compete?)
Whoever they are? (coffee shops that don't have strippers and thus can't compete?)
26
@24, you have no idea of the horrors of the Washington State strip club. People here go to Portland or Vancouver if that's what they're looking for. Here, you have to sit and drink cokes, which is just pathetic.
30
I'm still hung up on the fact that the cops spent two months wasting time, money, and resources on this. Regardless of their reasons for beginning the investigation, bringing charges just sounds like they didn't want to look stupid for wasting time on an investigation and coming up empty handed.
31
People were paying $80 just to get flashed? That's pathetic. The internet is full of naked women you can't touch that you can see for free.
32
Why didn't they just tell them "Stop going over the line or we'll be forced to do something, ok? We have better things to do."
Fuck. The police, even at a very high level, are so into opportunities to persecute instead of maintain the peace...
Fuck. The police, even at a very high level, are so into opportunities to persecute instead of maintain the peace...
33
This is how California became the porn capital of the world. Pandering laws were extrapolated by district attorneys and law enforcement to include being paid for sex in front of a camera for entertainment purposes. A long hullabaloo and some very expensive lawsuits later, California is now one of the few places where the law says you can pay for sex, if you're doing so to make a movie. Oh and that porn is legal.
Some things we don't want to admit, even if they're true.
Some things we don't want to admit, even if they're true.
35
I wonder if the police would even care about this here in Portland, Oregon... The suburbs sure, but down on Powell Blvd? This place would probably be a cop hang out...
36
@32: Exactly. An unfriendly visit from a few police cars would have scared the shit out of the baristas and ended the whole thing. No need for a ridiculous two-month investigation.
But what fun would that be for the cops?
But what fun would that be for the cops?
37
Dammit, Dan! I'm trapped here in red state wack job fundie land, and in the minds of the Church Ladies, Hooters = Strip Clubs = Prostitution! They can't tell these three things apart! Plz don't encourage 'em.
You'd know all of the border lines in that territory if you... oh, wait, it's not your bag, baby.
In most of the country, there are lots of rules about "don't touch the girls" in strip clubs. I've not heard of prostitution charges for such, though.
You'd know all of the border lines in that territory if you... oh, wait, it's not your bag, baby.
In most of the country, there are lots of rules about "don't touch the girls" in strip clubs. I've not heard of prostitution charges for such, though.
39
paying someone money to lick your dick isn't prostitution? Since when? Jeez Dan. You, who are quick to remind your listeners (and rightly) that sex is more inclusive than penis-in-vagina-or-butthole would in other circumstances call licking cream of an erect penis a sex act. Here you want to say it isn't because you are a partisan of prostitution.
40
#39, the girls weren't licking the customers' dicks; they were licking each other:
lick whipped cream off their co-workers' private parts
41
How do I get a job investigating these sorts of things?
In fact, you should employ EVERY citizen to investigate this sort of lewd behavior. We'll need a court injunction to force this place to stay open a few more decades while all interested investigators cop a feel. I mean, investigate this lascivious behavior.
Ahem. Seriously, if this place gets turfed out of the USA, we always need more coffee shops here in Australia. If they have trouble finding a premises, they can set up in my living room while they look for a place.
In fact, you should employ EVERY citizen to investigate this sort of lewd behavior. We'll need a court injunction to force this place to stay open a few more decades while all interested investigators cop a feel. I mean, investigate this lascivious behavior.
Ahem. Seriously, if this place gets turfed out of the USA, we always need more coffee shops here in Australia. If they have trouble finding a premises, they can set up in my living room while they look for a place.
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